The Beautiful Game

The World Cup is in full swing, and BRANSCH artists are riveted to their screens while also coming up with new ideas to feature the beautiful game in their work. A constant source of inspiration with its drama, movement, and dynamism, football has proven a deep well upon which to draw for BRANSCH artists Jo Magrean, Levon Biss, Henning Bock, Reinhard Hunger, and others.

“A Series of Unfortunate Events” by Michael Wolf

Michael Wolf is a German photographer who is pushing the boundaries of what constitutes photo-journalism. Earlier this year he received an honorable mention in the World Press Photo competition for an image from his body of work “ A Series of Unfortunate Events”. Wolf sat at his computer screen clicking through countless images taken by the Google Street View camera vans. When he found an image that fit his project, he would mount his own camera in front of his computer screen and click. Each picture depicts a quirky or confusing calamity that either just happened or is about to take place. The project raises many questions about appropriation, voyeurism, and what counts as legitimate photo journalism.

Good morning, New York!

We spotted this video that has set the virtual world on fire. Full of life, verve, and a disarming carefree attitude, it has been viewed over 100,000 times and was written up in NY Times Magazine – “B-Girl Bouillabaisse.” The filmmakers are currently looking for funding to develop a full-length one-take film called “Girl Walk // All Day,” and have raised a significant sum from Kickstarter in pursuit of this goal.

This trailer features a young woman (who happens to be a former ballerina) breaking out into spontaneous dance in and around the Staten Island Ferry, the terminal building, and lower Manhattan. The video as made with guerilla shooting tactics and boomboxes playing Girl Talk’s “All Day” album. Passersby exhibited a wide range of reactions, from joy to disdain to the (stereo)typical New Yorker nonchalance.

When Video Games Meet Art

Gamer culture is going through a revolution. No longer just an adolescent pastime, the onset of the Wii, iPad and Nintendo DS means people of all ages have been enveloped into the gaming world, particularly as they become progressively more interactive. The future predicted in sci-fi films is becoming a reality so it is no wonder that artists are utilizing video games as a progressive artistic medium. Recently San Francisco nonprofit organization MADE started raising funds for a West Coast video game museum and the Smithsonian opened up voting for what should be in display. The iPhone and iPad app function have given a plethora of artists the opportunity to produce some beautiful fascinating independent games.

Darth Vader – the early years

BRANSCH Hamburg loves Deutsch Inc’s latest TV spot for the 2012 Volkswagen Passat, featuring a young Darth Vader learning how to hone the Force. We here in the States only just got a look at it during the Sunday’s Superbowl.

2011, the year of Love

For quite some time, BRANSCH photographer Chris Tribelhorn was inspired to use dancers to form words and so he recently filmed Royal Swedish Ballet dancers, Candela Ebbesen and Joakim Adeberg, gracefully arching and stretching to spell out a simple message of love. “Love” is Chris’ personal new year’s resolution, and a theme of his videos, two years running. Take a look!

Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera

Usually it’s photographers who use paintings as points of reference, so it’s interesting to learn that Norman Rockwell, associated with illustration and his paintings of American life, employed the camera in the late 1930’s as a compositional tool.

Rockwell’s study photographs are on display alongside his paintings, drawings and tearsheets and are the focus of the current exhibition at Brooklyn Museum. For each painting, he would capture numerous photographs of models, props and locations, carefully considered these individual elements and arranged them like puzzle pieces, almost as if the resulting painting was his version of image post-production.

Take a ride with Hermes!

French luxury brand Hermès paired up with pro finger boarder and director Alexis Milant in a video that flips your notion of handbags and jewelry on its head and takes you on a journey through the land of the famous orange boxes and a skate park made from the Fall/Winter 2010 collection.

Paris vs New York, a tally of two cities

Debuting online last week, Paris based graphic designer Vahram Muratyan has created a series of amusing posters, or perhaps cultural flashcards in his blog “Paris vs New York, a tally of two cities.” Almost daily, one can be delighted by a new topic associated with each city like nicknames (Ville Lumière vs Big Apple), architectural details (pierre de taille vs brick), or cinematic luminaries (Jean-Luc Godard vs Woody Allen.) MORE

Levi’s Photo Workshop

Just down the street from BRANSCH, in a space formerly occupied by Deitch Projects, Levi’s has installed a temporary photography space where one can find vintage camera rentals, printing stations, rotating artist exhibitions, photo equipment for on-site studio experimentation, lectures and educational workshops for photographers of all skill sets.

See the Whitney on a Weekend Walk on the High Line

Looking to explore Manhattan this weekend? Grab some snacks at Chelsea Market, window shop around the Meatpacking District, and walk over to the High Line on the west side for views of a site-specific installation commissioned by the Whitney and designed by the artist, Barbara Kruger.

Check it out at 820 Washington Street, on the corner of Washington and Gansevoort Streets, before it wraps up on October 17.

Diary of a Night Flight from New York to Berlin

Just for laughs, we think many BRANSCH photographers and blog fans might be able to relate to Christoph Niemann’s NY Times illustrations of the long stretches of monotony one might experience on a long international flight.

You Are Here -> Mapping the Psychogeography of New York City at Pratt Manhattan Gallery

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Currently on exhibit at Pratt Manhattan Gallery is a ode to New York City through maps by various artists. These may not help you get directly from point A to Z, though they may give you a new point of view and perhaps inspire you to create your own photographic psychogeography of this urban metropolis.

Old Meets New – Michon LTD

We came across this amazing office design by Michon Creative today, and just had to share it with you! What is your office like?! Upload them to our facebook page, we’d love to see pictures of your modern office designs :)

Elizabethan Renaissance Woman in Stuart Pearson Wright’s “Maze”

In a wig and ruff fit for a queen, Keira Knightley joins artist Stuart Pearson Wright in Maze, a short film that wryly sends up the bodice-ripping breathlessness of much period drama. “The use of the Elizabethan period was a way of lulling the audience into a sense of the familiar, which then made it possible to thwart those expectations,” explains the artist of this cinematic project, shot at Longleat House in Wiltshire, UK.MORE